By Shani Raja and Satoshi Kawano March 10 (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fluctuated as Australian consumer confidence rose, while shipping lines declined after a measure of cargo transport rates fell for the first time in almost two weeks. Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd. , Australia’s second-biggest airline, climbed 4 percent. David Jones Ltd. , the nation’s No. 2 department store chain, advanced 1.2 percent. STX Pan Ocean Co., South Korea’s largest bulk-shipping line, dropped 1.9 percent in Seoul, and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s third-largest line, fell 1.7 percent in Tokyo. “We don’t have a strong catalyst, so I’m expecting stocks to drift without a clear direction today,” said Hiroichi Nishi , an equities manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 122.79 as of 9:30 a.m. in Tokyo, with about as many stocks advancing as declining. The index has risen 74 percent since March 9 last year, when it sank to its lowest level since the September 2008 bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average were also little changed. To contact the reporter for this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net ; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo skawano1@bloomberg.net .
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Asian Stocks Fluctuate After Australia Confidence Report; Shippers Decline
